Lecrae has a song called “After the music Stops” that may put this whole blog in perspective after you read it, but I want to go into a lot more.

ARGUABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MINISTERING TO PEOPLE IS AFTER THE MUSIC STOPS. (or dance or drama or … you know what I mean)

You see all these vehicles that we use are gifts and talents that are given to us by the almighty God for THE SOLE PURPOSE OF…………………….wait for it…………………………………. BRINGING PEOPLE TO SALVATION!

There I said it… so we might wonder what about edification, upliftment encouragement and what not. Well all these things are part of the goal of bringing people to salvation.

When u edify believers (those already saved) you bring them to a greater understanding of the things of God and this is not for them to just take and bury like the wicked servant did in Luke 19: 11-22.

If someone is truly edified and focused on the right things everything they do is purposely done to lead to SALVATION OF THE LOST. There are no two ways about it. If this is not the sole purpose of anyone ministering, then what are they ministering for?

If our goal as saints is the furthering of God’s kingdom…. who is God’s kingdom… the saints….and what is a saint….. a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. So there is no problem with an ‘uplifting’ ‘inspirational’ ‘educational’ song (dance… etc)….. but the question that must asked is.

WHAT IS THE FRIUT OF IT?

aka…. WHAT DAT PRODUCING?

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Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

Careful analysis of the producing fruit scripture would reveal that. In verse 15 he said to beware of false prophets. Of course he does not mean the person that is predicting the future in the purest sense. He means those that come in his name.

You shall know them by their friuts.

Realistically now… a FIG TREE CANNOT BEAR ORANGES…… it can’t. If it does…. it’s not a fig tree.

The fruit of your ministry should always be………………… the apparent desire for those who were ministered to, TO CHANGE THEIR LIVES. There is no if but of maybee about it.

Change their lives how…? What is the measuring stick?….. Here we go with one of those tough questions…….

cuz somebody who is ministered to may change their life by occasionally listening to you again or watching you dance again….. they most probably have not been changed… they have been attacted by something…. which is good…. but not the goal.. that’s a sub goal.

Jesus did many things that woudl have benefited people. He made things that were bad in their life better by healing, feeding, encouraging and teaching. These are the same things that we do but I am dealing specifically with the Gospel Music industry that I am in. We do the same things, which is meet peoples needs with music and arts and what not…. but Jesus did not just do it and leave them… he got them to follow him …. and from that followership…. HE MADE DISCIPLES…..he established the new Kingdom..

I will apply it to myself for the sake of clarity.

If the music i play is bearing people who like sounds for liking them sake and just want to hear them for enjoying themselves…. I AM FAILING AT BEARING THE RIGHT FRUIT….

something is wrong with my tree…..

If the way DJ is coupled with OTHER things that fit into the whole scheme of the Goal…(which is salvation)… is causing people to see God in a different light and serve him more diligently and in turn purposely do things that ULTIMATELY are geared toward the salvation of the lost…. then I WOULD BE BEARING THE RIGHT FRUIT.

This is why after the beat stops is soooooooooo important. Many ppl see ministry as one thing… dancing, singing, preaching, deejaying, sports.

But simply put…. MINISTRY IS LIFE.

Talent is one of the COMPONENTS OF LIFE that we seems to exalt as the be all and end all of ministry.

I’ll put it this way… talent is the part of our life that draws people to the rest. The question is what is the rest like? The the rest firmly rooted in the soil of the Word Of God? and the trunk solid so that it does not blow to and fro? If so, then the fruit that is beared will be the desired fruit of God.

After the beat stops is the true test of any ministry to see if it is producing more change in an effort to produce mature believers…… or if it is just entertaining the masses.

Albert Barnes Notes on the Bible:

“People do not judge of a tree by its leaves, or bark, or flowers, but by the fruit which it bears. The flowers may be beautiful and fragrant, the foliage thick and green; but these are merely ornamental. It is the “fruit” that is of chief service to man; and he forms his opinion of the nature and value of the tree by that fruit.”